A new report compiled by the International Data Corporation (IDC) has been released, revealing the growth in the markets for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). The report indicates that growth of the sector remains high for 2nd quarter of 2017.

The report indicated that volume of shipments for VR devices was down slightly on Q1, but the price cuts for existing devices and plans for new products has renewed interest and put the market back on track, leading to predictions of a successful Christmas season for VR companies.

“Growth in the VR market has been rather sluggish compared to other recently introduced technologies as the amount of investment and, more importantly, the need for end user education is extremely high for VR,” said Jitesh Ubrani senior research analyst for IDC’s Mobile Device Trackers. “Though the recent price cuts across all major platforms will help alleviate one of the barriers to adoption, providing consumers the opportunity to learn about products and try before they buy is still a significant hurdle faced by most companies.”

Virtual reality products such as VR headsets are still making up most of the shipments of VR products. Tethered headsets make up 43% of the market, largely dominated by the PlayStation VR, with the Oculus Rift also showing an increase since its price drop. HTC Vive largely showed flat growth over his period. AR headsets remain rare, and actually saw some decline over the analysed period.

“Consumer-focused AR headsets are still some way off, as most people will first experience AR through the screen on their phone,” said Tom Mainelli, vice president, Devices and AR/VR at IDC. “Now that Apple and Google are both focused on helping developers create AR experiences on their platforms—through ARKit for iOS and ARCore for Android—we can expect to see a flood of new AR apps appearing on smartphones later this year and into next. These developments should eventually lead to consumer-centric AR glasses, but that won’t happen in meaningful volume, at affordable price points, for some time.”

VRFocus will continue to report on new developments in the VR and AR sector.